Divided I stand
by Kat A. Klysmic
Summary: Ambrose doesn't like Glitch, and Glitch definitely doesn't like Ambrose. Neither can seem to find peace with the other, two minds trapped in one body. Can the key to peace lay in the heart of the princess of the O.Z.? [DGxGlitchAmbrose]
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Obviously, Tinman is not copyright to me. This is a fic that I randomly thought up last night before bed, and so here we go! It should be a few chapters long, but I'm not sure of the exact numbers, we shall see. Please enjoy, and read and review!

Divided I stand

Chapter: 1

DG was antsy. She hated being antsy. She hated the nervous quivering in her guts that felt like a swarm of butterflies were having an all night dance party; she hated the fact that she couldn't stop pacing up and down the too-white hall in front of the double doors of the medical wing of the castle; and she hated how much her hands hurt from wringing them so much. What she hated the most though, was worrying that, contrary to the doctors reassurances to their princess, everything would _not _go well with Glitch's surgery.

DG, youngest princess of the O.Z., let out a squeak of alarm as someone abruptly grabbed her by one of her pained hands and hauled her down onto a bench.

"Mr.Cain, don't _do _that! You scared the hell out of me!", DG gasped as she looked over at the man sitting next to her.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, princess?" Wyatt Cain asked, pale eyebrows knit more in worry for the girl before him than from true disapproval.

"I'll stop calling _you_ mister as soon as you stop calling _me_ princess." DG said mulishly, leaning back against the wall behind her, foot unconsciously tapping the floor while she tried to master the same calm, serious look that her protector always affected in times like these. The one he had on his face right now, as a matter-of-fact.

"No worry, DG. Glitch be fine." Raw said from beside her, patting her hand comfortingly.

"Yeah, listen to the furball, kid. Glitch will be fine. These scientist types are the best of the best, your mother made sure of that."

"Oh I know, I'm trying to be patient but it's been hours!" DG groaned. The young woman felt ill at the very thought of losing one of her best friends. Glitch and the others had always been there for her, fighting to protect her, always coming to her rescue...what would she do without them? Inwardly, DG smiled as she thought of glitch in particular. His smiles, both the shy and the bold ones, that he exhibited when happy or excited. She'd never met anyone with a smile quite like his. The princess couldn't help smiling every time her half-brained friend did, like it was contagious or something.

Thinking about the old Glitch, though, brought about a deeper fear that DG had yet to confess to her friends. What if, when he came out of surgery, Ambrose didn't remember his time as Glitch? What if Glitch was gone for good? She remembered now that she had always like Ambrose when she was young, but there was something about Glitch that she would dearly miss if he were gone when Ambrose walked out of the door to the surgery ward.

"You guys," DG began hesitantly, her voice immediately drawing both the pale, intense gaze of the Tinman, and the dark, warm eyes of the viewer, "What if Gli-"

DG was immediately cut off though, as a nurse came abruptly through the door before the three friends. The princess automatically reached for both of her friends hands, gripping them tightly, as though her life depended on it.

"There you are, Princess!" The nurse said as she came eagerly forward to greet the trio.

"How is he?" all three chimed as the got to their feet, looking at each other in surprise. The nurse only laughed though, and waved off their fears.

"Fine! The surgery went off without a hitch! Advisor Ambrose's brain was successfully reattached with the parts left behind by the witch's alchemists, and the zipper was removed as well. It should heal up with little to no scarring given a little time and some care."

DG felt dizzy with relief. Just as her knees felt like they might give way, she felt a strong arm wrap around her, lending her strength. The dark haired young woman turned her bright blue gaze up to meet Cain's, and she smiled her gratitude.

"When can we see him?" DG asked when she was no longer about to fall over with relief. Her two companions looked at the nurse expectantly, clearly wanting to know the same thing.

"Well, the advisor has been returned to his quarters, but he won't be fully conscious for some hours yet. It would be best if you waited until tomorrow. He should be well enough for short visits by then." The nurse explained with a kindly smile.

"Alright, we'll go see him first thing tomorrow. How's that sound, kiddo?" Cain said, looking down at the princess and managing a reassuring smile for her sake.

"Sure, tomorrow." DG replied. She was disappointed that she would have to wait, but wait she would, if that was what was best for Glitch.

* * *

It was early morning when the Queens Advisor, and the princess's friend began to stir. Pale morning sunshine, just peeping over the mountains, was pouring in through a window, gently illuminating his now familiar room. Dark eyes opened slowly, taking in his surroundings.

"_I'm...home."_Ambrose thought to himself, breathing a mental sigh of relief. He was in his old room, and though he had no memory of what had happened since Azkedelia's take over and the removal of his brain, something inside him told him that all was well.

"_Yeah, isn't _that _a relief."_Glitch chimed in.

It was then he knew that something had gone wrong, horribly horribly wrong with his surgery. As one, the pair sat bolt upright, mouth agape in horror, running their hands over their body, from the toes up to the bandages on their head.

"_What's going on here?!" _Ambrose thought, panicking as he felt that there was something distinctly wrong with his normally whole, and brilliant brain.

"_You tell me! _I _was supposed to be getting my brain back!" _Glitch thought back, also feeling panicked. Hadn't the doctors said that everything would be alright once he had his brain back safely in his head? That he would be whole and back to his old self once more?

Internally, both paused, seemingly sizing each other up before demanding _"Who the hell are you?!" _

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed chapter one! I'm not entirely sure how long this fic is gonna be, so we'll see, lol. I'll try and get chapter two up soon! Please **read and review!**


	2. Dissagreements with Myself

**A/N:** As usual, Tin Man is not copyright to me, I do not own it, unfortunately. Anyways, this chapter is much longer than the last one, so I hope you enjoy! Also, Reviews help me write faster, so please, **Read **and** Review!**

**Divided I stand**

**Chapter 2**

AKA: Disagreements with myself

"I'm Ambrose, what are you doing in my head?!"

"Oh! I'm Glitch! I'm you."

"You just said you were Glitch."

"Right. Hi, I'm glitch."

"Aaaand, I'm Ambrose..."

"Great! I'm you!"

"You just said you were Glitch!" Ambrose cried, becoming increasingly angry with the voice in his head. He was beginning to get the feeling that he had gone quite mad.

"Yeah, and...?" Glitch replied, getting fed up. For a genius, this Ambrose was awfully slow.

"How can you be me if you're Glitch?!" The queens advisor demanded.

"Oh, that's an easy one." Glitch said, smiling. "See, after you had half your brain removed, I was what was left. I've been wandering all over the O.Z. trying to find my brain, and now I have! I do wish you'd go away though, it's awfully cramped in here with you around."

"But this is _my _brain, and _my _body, and I insist that _you _leave immediately!"

"No way! Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for my brain?" Glitch demanded, outraged by the others rudeness.

"How long?" Ambrose asked sarcastically.

There was a long pause before Glitch finally responded, "I...don't remember."

"What?!" Ambrose shouted.

What neither person realized that as the debate had heated, it had gone from an internal struggle to a very loud external argument with, for all intents and purposes, himself. Another thing neither realized was that Wyatt Cain had been standing on the other side of the door for most of it, one hand still raised to knock, but he had failed to carry out the motion upon hearing Glitch having such a bizarre conversation with himself.

Afraid that the clearly deranged man would become violent...towards himself...Cain finally decided to forgo the knocking and simply opened the door, snapping it quickly shut behind him. "What the hell is going on in here?" He demanded of the frazzled looking scientist before him, who had turned to look at the intruder on his self inflicted argument with surprise.

"Who are you?! Another deranged lunatic come to drive me mad?" Ambrose demanded of Cain, causing the Tin Man to give him a very confused look.

Before he could speak though, Glitch took over and threw himself at Cain's feet. "Cain! Oh thank Ozma! You've got to help me! Something went horribly wrong with the surgery."The half-brained man grasped Cain by the pant legs and looked up at him from where he knelt on the floor, looking more upset and confused than the Tin Man had ever seen him before.

"I gathered as much." Was all the pale haired man could manage as he stared down at the distressed Glitch. Cain had to be honest with himself. He was completely and utterly astonished at the state in which he found his good friend (not something that happened very often). Through their travels across the O.Z., he had become accustomed to the malfunctions of the mans brain that gave him his name, but they'd always been temporary. He'd never seen him come so completely unhinged before.

"You still haven't answered my question. Who are you? Oh, and what are you doing barging into my room like this?" The confused look Glitch had been wearing vanished and was replaced with one of righteous indignation from Ambrose as he got to his feet and stared angrily at Cain. It was then that the former rebel realized that this wasn't one of Glitch's normal episodes, not by a long shot. He'd never seen Glitch affect such a look toward anyone. No, the man staring him down now wasn't Glitch at all, it was the Queen's Advisor, Ambrose.

"Damn, the Princess was right." Cain said quietly. Her nervous feeling hadn't just been nerves on their friends part after all. Perhaps it was her magic warning her that something had gone amiss in the surgery.

Glitch's face brightened as he eagerly shoved Ambrose to the back of their shared mind and surfaced once more, "That's it Cain! You have to go get the princess! She'll know what to do! But you can't tell anyone else, can't tell anyone else!"

"What do you mean, don't tell anyone else? We have to tell the queen, or a doctor at least..." Cain began, but he was cut off when Glitch suddenly grabbed him by the front of his coat and pulled on him with surprising strength.

"No! Cain, on the Ice Lake you told me that you owed me one, for saving your life. I'm calling in that favor now. You can't tell the queen, or anyone else." Here, Glitch looked unusually solemn. "I can't let the queen down like that, Ambrose either, that's something we have in common."

The Tin Man was so struck by the intensity of their gaze, for he somehow had a feeling that both of the man's personalities were suddenly united in this single idea, that he could do nothing but agree.

"Fine, but if this gets too out of control, if you hurt the princess, I _will _report to the queen." Cain said, meeting their gaze with equal intensity on this subject.

Glitch nodded and released his friend's coat from his death grip. As soon as he did, Cain had turned on heel and swept out of the room, donning his wide brimmed hat as he did, leather coat billowing out behind him.

* * *

DG was in her spacious bedroom, surrounded by a gaggle of women, both young and old, all of them busy pinning fabric to her, paying her compliments, and occasionally sticking her with pins. The youngest princess was in no way thrilled with being fitted for new dresses, this one in particular being for the ball that her mother had arranged for two weeks hence. She would much rather, she thought, be with Cain checking in on Glitch to make sure that he was okay. As it was, her mother had insisted that she stand for her fittings first and let Glitch get some rest before she went to him. This hadn't sat at all well with DG, but not wanting to argue with her mother, she had agreed, but taken Cain aside before her fitting and asked him to check on Glitch for her.

The princess looked up hopefully as the door to her chambers creaked open part way and the man she had been hoping to see stuck his head in to see where she was.

"Cain!" DG said, relief showing all over her face for the excuse to push a few seamstresses out of the way and jump off the pedestal she had been perched upon to go see what news her friend had for her.

The Tin Man's insides gave a twinge of regret as he saw the princess rush towards him, hope in her wide blue eyes. He hated to be the one who told her that what he had previously thought was her unfounded fears had turned out to be all to true.

At the uncharacteristic look of regret on the mans face, DG's own face fell, and she knew that all was as she had feared last night. Something had gone wrong with Glitch.

"Oh god, what happened?" she whispered, horrified as she looked up at her protector, dread rising from somewhere deep within her to gnaw at her heart in the form of fear.

"DG...He...well, Glitch is-" Cain was having trouble finding words that wouldn't send the princess into an outright panic, but his hesitation did just as much damage. DG shoved past him and bolted from the room, trailing yards of blue silk and pins as she ran.

The Tin man put an arm out and stopped the seamstresses from running after her, telling them that he would handle it, and that the princess would be back momentarily if they would be so kind as to wait. With that, he closed the door sharply in their surprised faces and took off after DG at a quick jog.

* * *

Back in his room, the confused scientist was seated in a chair looking alternately sulky and outraged, his knees drawn up to his chest and toes curled over the edge of the comfortable cushion.

"Is someone going to answer me yet? Who was that?" Ambrose demanded.

"That was Cain, a Tin Man. My friend."

"A Tin Man? I thought Azkedelia got rid of them all when she took over?"

"She did, but now they're back."

"And working for Azkedelia? You realize she'll be taking my brain back out now, thanks to you." Ambrose said, sounding incensed.

"For a genius, you're awfully stupid."Glitch snapped back.

"I beg your pardon?!"

"Cain's not going to go get Az, and even if he was, she's okay now anyways."

"What are you talking about?" Ambrose demanded. The last thing he remembered was the elder princess's coup and the subsequent removal of his brain. "What other princess would he be getting?"

"Isn't it obvious, I asked him to go get-"

Glitch was cut off though as the door abruptly burst open, making him jump up halfway in his chair in surprise and alarm, a feeling mimicked by Ambrose, who was certain the long coats would be on him any second to haul him away to the nearest alchemist.

"DG!" Glitch said in relief as he realized that it was the princess who had entered so abruptly. He let out a yelp of surprise, though, as the princess jumped up and wrapped her arms around him in relief that something truly horrible hadn't happened. She had secretly been afraid that he had died or something, thanks to the Tin Man's lack of explanation. Unfortunately, before she could speak, Glitch's precarious position of being halfway up the chair with her clinging to him sent the chair tumbling over backwards, making them both hit the floor with a thump.

Glitch found himself mildly dazed by the impact, but came around quickly, only to find himself awash in a sea of blue silk, with several somethings stabbing him, and making him rather uncomfortable.

"DG?" he said again, pulling up a fold of blue silk and spotting the dark haired princess looking at him from beneath it. "You okay?" he asked, struggling to sit up, though it was a little hard with her sprawled on top of him. Not that he really minded her being on top of him, he discovered, but the stabbing sensations from the silk rather took some of the novelty out of it.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." DG replied, though her voice sounded shaky, and it wasn't their sudden fall to the floor that had caused it. She pushed herself up, though remained sitting on Glitch's legs, looking at him worriedly as he pulled himself together, removing a few pins that had become lodged in his clothing.

Glitch looked at her from the corner of his eyes as he picked at a few needles. Even as a man with only half a brain he could see that DG looked lovely in her new dress, even if it was only half finished. The color, he thought, really brought out the color of her eyes. His heart quickened slightly with her sitting there on his knees, looking rather fetching in a cute, tousled kind of way.

With great difficulty, he shoved the thought away, even _he _could see that thinking things like that about the princess was inappropriate. So, instead, he smiled at her and said "Hiya princess, what brings you here?", his brain, once again, living up to his name.

* * *

Through all this, Ambrose had been shocked enough by DG's sudden appearance to remain in the proverbial back seat. Apparently there was more to Glitch than he had first thought. It was obvious he was on friends terms with the princess, and not just any princess, but DG, who had been sent away as a mere child before Azkedelia's violent take over. But if this was DG, then many years had passed indeed, for she was not a child anymore, but a lovely young woman of at least twenty.

That thought alone suddenly struck fear through his heart. If the princess was this old now, and she had been a child when he had last seen her, then over decade had passed. What had happened during his long absence? Where had he been? The Queen? Azkedelia? He had to know. So, while Glitch was distracted with the princess, Ambrose reached for the other mans memories, hoping to learn what had happened while he was gone. Being the brilliant man that he was, it didn't take Ambrose long to figure out how to access Glitch's side of the brain and find what he needed.

* * *

DG ignored her addled friend's question, as she knew it was just his brain glitching again. She looked back over her shoulder and nodded at Cain as he stood in the doorway. He nodded in return and left the room, closing the door behind him and proceeding to stand guard so that they wouldn't be interrupted.

The princess turned her gaze back to Glitch, who was still smiling at her and asked "Glitch, are you alright? Cain said...well, actually Cain didn't say much of anything, but I got the impression that there was something wrong."

"Hmm? Oh! Yes!" Glitch abruptly exclaimed as it all came back to him once more, the reason he had been upset, why Cain had gone off in such a hurry... "Oh princess it's horrible! The surgery, the surgery went all wrong!" he said, pulling his legs from under DG and crouching before her.

"What?! How do you mean?" DG exclaimed.

"It's Ambrose! He won't give me back my brain!" Glitch complained, looking pained as he put his hands to his bandaged head.

_That_ made DG pause.

"You mean, Ambrose is in there too? You're two separate people in one body?" the princess asked, clambering mentally to try and keep up with where this conversation was going.

"Yes! It's horrible!" Glitch paused and then leaned forward, as though Ambrose might overhear, and whispered "He's not at all nice. Keeps telling me to get out of his body! So rude."

DG thought for a moment before finally saying "Can I...talk...to Ambrose? Maybe he could explain what happened?"

Glitch sat back, frowning, "I guess so. I don't know why you'd want to though." Internally he called out to the other occupant of his body _"Hey stuffed shirt! The princess wants to talk to you."_

Ambrose managed to rouse himself from his perusal of Glitch's memories, and frowned internally, replying _"That is no way to talk to the queens advisor." _

Glitch snorted, but otherwise didn't make a reply, he simply let Ambrose take the forefront of their shared mind, though not without a few discontented grumblings.

The dark haired woman brushed some of her long dark hair from her face, her eyes never leaving her friends face as she waited. He had closed his eyes, and she was shocked at how his countenance changed once he opened them again. He truly was a different person. "Ambrose?" She asked, blinking at him in surprise, for memories of her mother's most trusted advisor immediately began springing to mind, and she knew that this could be no one else looking back at her from her best friends dark eyes.

Ambrose rose to his feet, straightening himself out to make himself look as dignified as possible (at least as dignified as one can look in their pajamas. Granted, they were very nice pajamas, all brown silk with gold trim, but that's beside the point), before bowing low at the waist to her.

"Welcome home, Princess."

DG could only sit and stare up at him, looking flabbergasted. It wasn't until her mother's chief advisor extended a hand to her, that she recalled herself. She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet, letting her straighten herself and her half-sewn skirts out.

The princess curtsied as best she could in her unfinished dress and said "It's been a long time, Ambrose. I don't suppose you remember anything?" She looked at him curiously, wondering just how much he remembered.

"I didn't until just now." Ambrose replied, dark eyes watching the Princess. He was still growing accustomed to how much she had changed. It was all rather unsettling. "I've been accessing some of Glitch's memories, and I'm beginning to get the general shape of what has been going on. Your mother is alright? Glitch seems to think so, but some of his memories seem warped, or are missing pieces."

DG smiled slightly, warming up to the man a bit more. He was just like she remembered him, which she supposed made sense, as it had been hardly any time at all for his conscious mind since she had last seen him. "Yes, mother is fine, we all are. The witch that had possessed Azkedelia is gone, and things are slowly making their way back towards normal. Well...except for-"

"Me." Ambrose finished. DG nodded, and he could practically read her next question on her face.

"You're no doubt wondering what went wrong with the surgery so that it's both of us in here, instead of just one. Truth be told, I have no idea. Last thing I remember is that alchemist counting down from one hundred before he..." Ambrose bit his lip at the memory, still fresh for him, though long past for everyone else.

He looked so upset then, that DG couldn't help but reach out and hug him, just like she would have done with Glitch. This sudden move of affection from the woman took Ambrose by surprise though, giving Glitch the opportunity to move to the front again. He hadn't been keeping track of the conversation enough to know why they were hugging, but he wasn't about to let the chance pass him by. He wrapped his arms around DG and said "Hello there, why are we hugging?"

DG looked up in surprise and could immediately tell that it was Glitch smiling down at her from those eyes. She didn't know how, but even when they didn't speak, she could always tell them apart.

"He just looked so upset, thinking about when he had his brain removed, I couldn't help but hug him like I would have you." She said, a little embarrassed.

"Oh, yeah. Took him by surprise I think." Glitch smiled as the princess laughed slightly and then he spoke again. "I like your hugs though. You can hug me any time." He flashed her a smile that the princess couldn't help but return. She didn't let him go immediately though, instead she asked "Well, Ambrose doesn't seem to know why you guys ended up like this. You have any ideas, Glitch?"

Glitch tilted his head up and to the side, like he always did when he tried to think. This time around, he seemed to have more success than usual. DG thought that maybe he was able to make some use of Ambrose's side of the brain, similar to how Ambrose had been able to look at Glitch's memories. "It seems to me...that we're two very different people. Maybe if my brain had been returned right away, it would have been okay...but as it is, Ambrose has been gone for almost 15 annuals, leaving the remains of my brain time to make up a whole new personality for what was left of it. As you can tell, we don't seem to mix well."

DG blinked in surprise at the idea, or more because it was Glitch who had thought of it.

"You're surprise too, I see." Remarked Ambrose, having recovered from his earlier surprise. As he took over, he released DG and took a step back. "What he says _does _make sense, though I'd have to run some tests on myself to see if that is what's really wrong, or if it's just something that didn't get reconnected physically in the brain, which is also possible." The scientist looked thoughtful and then said "I don't suppose my old laboratory survived?"

"I haven't really asked. I can find out when I go explain things to my mother though." DG said.

Ambrose and Glitch both looked like they were going to object for a moment, before Ambrose finally nodded slowly in reluctant agreement. "It is probably for the best that the Queen know. I doubt we'd be able to hide this..." He waved at his head in refference to the fact that there were currently two people residing within it, "...thing from her for very long. She's always been such a perceptive woman. Do try and keep it quiet amongst everyone else though, please."

"Alright." DG said with a nod. She almost moved to hug him again, but reminded herself that it was Ambrose, not Glitch, speaking right then. "I'll ask about your laboratory so you can get to the bottom of this."

"Thank you Princess." Ambrose said with another courtly bow as DG made to leave.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do while stuffed shirt plays with our brain? Don't I get to do anything?" Glitch asked suddenly, dissapointed.

"Of course you get to do something Glitch, if you don't mind teaching me how to dance. For the party, you know." DG said with a smile back over her shoulder.

Glitch beamed at the dark haired woman and nodded enthusiastically. "That I can do."

"Good, now you guys get back to bed and rest. I'll be back by later." the princess said with a warm smile, closing the door softly behind her.

* * *

AN: Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you enjoyed, and if you did, Please make sure to **Read and Review!** Reviews always help me write the next chapter faster!!! 


	3. I know her, but do you?

A/N: As usual, Tin Man is not copyright to me, I do not own it, unfortunately. Reviews help me write faster, so please, **Read **and **Review!**

**Divided I stand**

**Chapter 3**

AKA: _I_ know her, but do _you_?

DG heaved a sigh and leaned back against the door as soon as she closed it behind her, staring up at the ceiling as she did so.

"Hey kiddo, how did it go?" Cain asked, stepping towards the woman. "He as cracked as I think he is?"

"That all depends." She replied, letting her eyes drift from the ceiling and down to the Tin Man's face. "From what they told me, both Glitch and Ambrose seem to be stuck in the same head. The transplant went fine, both parts of the brain seem to be in working order...but their personalities don't seem to want to mesh." DG explained, pushing off the door and beginning to walk off down the hall.

Cain fell into step beside her, looking thoughtful. "There's hope then? Can one of them do something about it?"

DG could only shake her head. "They don't know. Ambrose says he wants to run some tests to see jut what exactly is wrong."

"Hm, I see...what are they doing now? Is it safe to leave them alone?"

"Yeah, I told them to go back to bed and get some rest. I told Ambrose I'd ask mother about his lab, too." she said, turning the corner and heading for her room. "First off, though, I need to get out of this damn dress." she muttered to herself.

Cain overheard her lamentations though, and couldn't help but let one side of his mouth twitch as he tried to smother a smile. The O.Z.'s youngest princess always had preferred pants, and had insisted quite fiercely that she still be allowed to wear them when not on official business._ "That's my princess." _Cain thought proudly.

The seamstresses, needless to say, were all in an uproar when the princess reappeared, half the work they had completed on the dress that morning completely undone. Much to Cain's surprise though, DG silenced them all with an imperious look, head held high as she proceeded to apologize for all the work that had been wasted, but the situation had been quite unavoidable. She reassured them that next time they would get more done, but for now she had business to attend too.

The women all filed out of the room, more or less mollified by their princess's dignified excuses, and Cain couldn't help but express his admiration to how well DG had handled herself.

"Nice move, kid. I don't think your mother could have done better herself." He remarked with a slight smile as he stood in the middle of the room with his arms folded behind him, waiting for DG to finish changing in the adjoining bathroom.

"Ha, not likely. Mother would have sent them out of here all feeling happy that they would be coming back to do more work. She's just like that." she commented from the other room.

"I'm sure you'll get it eventually." He remarked diplomatically.

"I don't know... Anyways, I've got to go see mom about Glitch...and Ambrose. You want to come, or do you have something else to do?" DG asked as she came out of the bathroom, smoothing out her finely tailored leather vest as she moved.

Cain smiled slightly as he looked over at the tough-as-nails princess and her rather revolutionary sense of style. She was wearing knee high brown boots of soft leather, tight green pants, a white, broad sleeved shirt with plain cuffs and collar, and a brown leather vest that matched her boots. Though the ensemble looked simple at first, on closer inspection there where many small, intricate details woven and stitched into the whole outfit that marked it as being made by the finest seamstresses in the land. "You look nice.", Cain managed to say without feeling too awkward.

"Thanks." The princess said with a bright smile. "Setting a clothing revolution in motion for women everywhere, I am."

Cain snorted slightly at the idea, but he wouldn't put it past the princess. He had a feeling that she could do it, if she really tried.

"So, did you want to come?" DG asked again.

"No, I've got to go check on the guard, see how their shaping up. You know what upstarts new kids can be."

DG laughed and nodded. Not days after the anti-sunseeder and the evil witch had been destroyed, one of her mother's first actions as the re-instated queen of the O.Z. was to make Wyatt Cain head of her newly remade force of Tin Men. Most of them were former rebels, happy to be given such a prestigious position, and more hopeful trainees were coming in every day. Cain's first act had been to make his son, Jeb, second in command.

"Well, tell Jeb I said hello."

"Will do." Cain said, tipping his hat to her as they both walked out of the room, parting ways when they reached the hallway.

XXX

It was late afternoon by the time DG finally finished speaking with her mother, it had taken quite some time to fully explain their friend's situation, as they were being constantly interrupted by people wanting the queen to sign various bits of paper. It got to the point where the queen had finally banished everyone from the room until further notice so that she could have a moment's peace with her daughter.

"Oh my poor friend..." The queen lamented, looking upset at her advisor's unusual predicament. "I shall go visit him immediately to see what I can do to help." Lavender said, getting to her feet, ready to sweep out of the room and rush to his aid.

"Oh, mother wait!" DG exclaimed, grabbing her mother's hand before she could leave. "I think that...It might be best to wait to visit him. He seemed very upset about it, and he didn't want me to tell you at all. He thinks that he's let you down, I believe. They both do."

"But that's absolute nonsense!" The queen objected. "Ambrose gave up everything to keep all of the O.Z. safe, and Glitch did so much to help you in your journey, how could either of them possibly think that?"

"I don't know mother, but that's how he feels. Give it a couple of days." the princess said quietly, patting her mother's hands comfortingly. "I'll let you know as soon as he feels well enough to see you. Don't worry, I'll get him through this."

DG had a look of pure determination on her face as she spoke, the same one the queen recognized from when she was a little girl who simply would not be told 'no' when she was set on doing something. "Alright DG, I'll leave this to you then. Call it your first royal act. Restoring the queen's advisor back to health. We do so desperately need him. Ambrose has always been one of our best and brightest."

"I know mother, I won't let you down. That reminds me though, do you know what became of Ambrose's lab?"

"Oh yes, I looked in on that just recently. It had suffered quite a bit of damage, but I sent out orders to have it restored to how it once was. I imagine it should be complete by now. Why don't you go have a look before you go back to our friends? It's all the way down in the basement. I can send someone to show you, if you like."

"I'll be fine, mother, I think I remember the way." DG said, standing and giving her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"That's my angel. You did used to spend quite a bit of time down there when you were little." The queen remarked with a smile as her daughter pulled away.

"I did?" DG asked in surprise. While her most important memories seemed to have returned to her, the princess was gradually finding that she still had holes, the last pieces of her mothers spell still seemed to be clinging to her mind like stubborn cobwebs. This just seemed to be another of those occasions.

"Indeed you did. I'm sure a visit will jog your memory." The queen said with a smile, her famous lavender eyes twinkling in amusement.

DG could only shake her head and smile at her mother as the queen patted her cheek and sent her on her way. Once outside the Queens quarters, the youngest princess paused, feeling for the light within her that would illuminate the unexplored corners of her memory...

XXX

"_Come on, Deej, this way!" Azkedelia called, skipping down the hall, soon followed by her eager little sister. As they reached the deepest part of the first floor though, a young DG paused at the head of a narrow set of stairs that led even further down into the castle._

"Hey Az! Where does this go?" DG called out to her sister. As she looked up though, her elder sister had already vanished down another hallway, not realizing that her sister did not follow.

_DG shrugged, and after only a moment's hesitation, she headed carefully down the dark stairs. She could always find her sister later. This, though, was a part of the castle the little princess had never seen before. She felt no fear of the dark hall, for her mother had always said that nothing could harm her within the castle's ancient walls. _

_The stairs seemed to go down for ages, but at long last, a light from a crack in a door at their base greeted the little princess. Curious, DG pressed an eye to the crack, peering through in hopes of discovering something interesting. What she saw were many strange and interesting objects, twisted silver things, odd beakers of stranger fluids, table after table filled with documents, bizarre machines with unknown purposes... And then, a man._

_DG pulled back in surprise not wanting to be discovered spying, but when no one came to the door to chastise her, she peered through once more, watching the man move back and forth through tables and amongst machines, until finally he turned to the side, allowing her to see his face..._

XXX

"Ambrose." A much older DG whispered, her blue eyes snapping open and looking around her in surprise as she realized that she was no longer outside the Queen's quarters, but at the base of that same dark staircase, in front of that same door. "Oh...well, hope I can find my way back just as easy." the princess muttered to herself. She was about to push the door open when she heard a clatter and the rustling of papers from within. DG hesitated, and then pressed her eye to the crack in the door, just as she had all those years ago.

She waited, and then spotted the person within, hunched over a desk full of paper yellowed with age, and strange metal instruments, rifling through them. As the head came into view, she knew immediately who it was, even without seeing his face. She pushed the door open halfway, stuck her head through and called gently to the distracted man.

"Ambrose?"

The man in question jumped in surprise, and looked around for the person who had intruded upon his lab. "Oh, it's you DG." He breathed, a hand going to his still pounding heart. "You startled me."

As the princess sidled into the room, looking around at the strange labyrinth of machines, tools, and papers, the queen's chief science advisor couldn't help but think of the first time she'd ever stumbled into his normally solitary lair. What he didn't realize was that it was that same memory that had led DG here once more.

DG looked at Ambrose accusingly. "You should be in bed. You _did _just have major brain surgery, you know. You can't have recovered from that so soon, not even with magic."

The man flinched slightly at her disapproval, but shook it off. "I was having trouble sleeping." he replied. He knew she was right though. He really shouldn't be out of bed, but he was so disturbed by his current circumstances, that he hadn't been able to rest properly. He'd been unable to think of anything but trying to remedy it.

"That doesn't mean you should be up wandering around the castle. There _are_ servants, you know." DG said as she wove her way through the tables and to the mans side. "Look at you! You're even paler than normal, and...are you not wearing shoes?"

They both looked down at his bare feet as he curled his toes up, as though trying to hide them beneath the hem of his pants. Truth be told, Ambrose had simply thrown on the nearest set of semi-decent clothes he could find before he left his room, which had been dark brown pants, a loose white button up shirt, and his long brown coat. He hadn't even stopped to think about shoes. Come to think of it though, the stone flooring _was _awfully cold. Actually, the lab in general felt unusually cold...

DG just barely managed to grab hold of Ambrose by his coat lapels and tugged him forwards before he could fall over backwards and hit his already damaged head. Luckily, the man was so thin that even with her small stature, DG was still able to stay upright under his weight.

"DG?" Glitch asked quietly as he leaned heavily against her, her arms wrapped around his waist to hold him up.

"I'm here, Glitch. Do you want me to go get help?" she replied, her worry for her friend weighing heavily in her voice.

"I feel awful...that fool went and dragged us out of bed just to mope around down here..." he muttered. DG wasn't even sure he'd heard her.

"Well, lets get you back up to bed then." She said. It was all that she could think to do. There was no one else around, and she certainly didn't want to leave poor Glitch on his own in the basement when he was clearly unwell.

The princess managed to situate herself so she was at her friends side, his arm looped across her shoulders, and her arm around his waist. It took awhile, but several minutes of shuffling, and three close calls on the stairs later, they finally made it back to DG's room. Seeing as Glitch's room was further down the hallway, and up two more flights of stairs, the princess decided that here would simply have to do. Even though Glitch was light for his height, half-carrying him this far had already taxed DG of most of her energy.

Panting, DG managed to get a leg up and kicked her door open, unexpectedly glad to find that she had left it ajar (again). The pair shuffled inside, and the princess could do little more than to allow her friend to flop unceremoniously onto the bed, though she did pause to help him get both his legs up over the edge.

The man let out a groan as he rolled over so he wouldn't fall right back off the bed again. DG couldn't help but giggle at him as she helped him out of his coat.

"Hey, it's not nice to laugh at the infirm." He said quietly, opening his eyes slightly to look at his blue eyed princess as she pulled the blankets up over his limp form to help him get warm.

"Well, you do look rather pitiful." she said with a smile, getting a roll of the eyes from him in response. "I'm going to go get a doctor, so don't go wandering off again, okay?" DG said as she turned to leave again.

"Wait! Don't go, please." Glitch said, reaching out and grabbing her hand, making DG look back at him in surprise. "I'll be fine. I just need to rest... Stay with me?"

The sad I'm-sick-so-take-pity-on-me look Glitch gave DG tugged at her heart strings, so she sighed in defeat and crawled up onto the bed and sat with her back pressed to the headboard. "Alright, but only if you go to sleep. I'll go fetch a doctor if you don't." She admonished him, just as though he were an errant little boy.

Glitch nodded, flashing her a smile as he settled back comfortably and closed his eyes. He wiggled under the sheets a bit to get closer to DG's legs and then finally lay still. He was just drifting off when he heard the princess begin quietly singing...

_Two little princesses dancing in a row_

_spinning fast and freely, on their tiny toes_

_where the light will lead them, no one ever knows_

_Two little princesses dancing in a row..._

The last thing Glitch thought before falling into his dreams was that he'd never noticed what a nice voice his lovely friend had.

XXX

DG couldn't help but smile down at Glitch as he slept. What could she say, he just looked so peaceful there, the side of his head gently pressed up against her hip, the rest of him pressed up close for warmth. That sense of peace, the princess noticed, took years off him, worry lines were smoothed, and color was slowly returning to his face. She would have to convince him to start eating more though, he was alarmingly light for someone of his height.

As she thought, DG gently twirled one of his locks of brown hair around her finger before turning and reaching for the sketch book and charcoal she kept in the drawer of her night stand. She couldn't pass up such an excellent drawing subject, as Glitch seemed to be so deeply asleep that he wasn't likely to move any time soon, so she started while she had the chance.

More than an hour later, DG sat back and looked at her drawing, and was rather pleased with herself. It had been awhile since she'd had a chance to really sit back and draw like she used to. All things considered, it had turned out quite nice, helped by the fact that Glitch had barely budged since she started. She was considering doing another drawing when she was attacked by a fit of yawns, and so changed her plans, deciding that she'd nap before dinner instead. The princess tossed her sketch book and charcoal onto a desk a few feet away, and settled down beside Glitch. She didn't bother to get under the blankets, and gradually drifted off to sleep herself.

XXX

Ambrose stirred from his deep sleep, releasing a long sigh of contentment and he rolled onto his side, wrapping an arm around the person next to him. They were wonderfully warm, especially after the chill of his laboratory downstairs...Something about that thought didn't quite sit right with Ambrose, and he slowly cracked his eyes open, almost hating to spoil the blissful moment he'd been having, but he knew it had to be done.

He rolled backwards and to the far side of the bed, swiftly removing his arm from across the sleeping form of the princess. What on earth was she doing there? Actually, what was _he _doing here? The scientist sat up and looked around the room so quickly that he half fell out of the bed in his surprise.

"_And everyone calls _me _the spazz." _Glitch remarked dryly.

"_Oh shut up. What have you gotten us into?! What are we doing in the princess's room!" _Ambrose hissed back mentally.

"_Me?!" _Glitch asked, incredulously, _"You're the one that hauled us out of bed and dragged us down to that blasted lab!"_

"_I know that." _Ambrose retorted. _"I just don't remember what happened after the princess came in..."_

"_Yeah, that would be because you passed out and DG had to half-carry us all the way back up here!"_

"_What?! Why didn't she just go call for help?"_ The scientist asked, baffled by the woman's actions. Surely there were more than enough servants floating around to have saved her the effort?

Glitch snorted. _"Shows how much _you _know, you pompous ass. DG isn't the kind of girl just to leave a friend when they need her. You may have known her as a little girl, but _I _know her best now. I've spent months with her, ever since she returned home. How much do _you _know about the princess?" _Glitch demanded, mentally crossing his arms and frowning, outraged that his former self would assume DG would actually leave someone who needed her.

Ambrose fell silent, withdrawing into his own thoughts, ignoring Glitch entirely for the moment as he walked silently around the room. What _did _he know about the princess? He'd known her quite well as a child. He even liked to think that he'd been terribly fond of the troublesome little princess, making both DG and her sister little presents in his spare time. She had visited him often in his lab, and those visits had quickly become the highlights of his day. He didn't, though, know this new, adult princess at all. Perhaps it was the fact that it seemed like only a few days ago to him that she had been but a little girl, fleeing the O.Z. with her mother, pausing just long enough to wave goodbye to him before vanishing to the other side.

"_She's a good person. The O.Z. couldn't ask for a better princess." _Glitch said, speaking up at last.

Ambrose nodded slowly to himself, and to Glitch, but paused at the princess's desk before he could reply. His eyes had found DG's open sketch pad, face up with the drawing of him, no... Glitch, sleeping peacefully by her side.

"_Hey look, it's me!" _Glitch said excitedly. _"Boy is she ever good at drawing, huh?" _The man said admiringly. He'd always loved watching her draw. He may have always been a fantastic dancer, but he couldn't draw to save his life. To see himself in one of his princess's drawings made him happier than he knew how to say, though he didn't quite know why. She always put such love and effort into all her work, to see that she had done such a particularly fine piece of him sleeping, touched Glitch.

"_I see she really did inherit her father's artistic abilities." _Ambrose remarked, placing the book back where he'd found it.

"_And her mother's fiery personality." _Glitch added proudly, quickly stepping in and taking over. He turned to where the princess in question lay on the bed, dark hair flared out around her peaceful face like a halo, her eyes moving slightly under her lids, signaling that she was dreaming. The man smiled down at her fondly before whispering "Thank you, DG." He pressed a soft kiss onto her forehead and said quietly as he pulled away "Sweet dreams, my princess."

Glitch grabbed his jacket from where it had been dropped on a near by chair, donning it quickly before exiting the room, closing the door quietly behind him before heading back to his own quarters.


	4. I dance, you fear what comes of it

A/N: Hey everyone, do please enjoy this chapter! And to see the image linked down in the text, just replace the dots and colons where it says too. Enjoy!

Divided I stand

Chapter 4

AKA: I like to dance, but you fear what may come of it

DG stirred from her deep sleep some time later, strange dreams still running rampant through her mind. She lay there a moment, furiously trying to catch hold of one, just a brief flash, a memory imprinted upon her mind.

The dark haired woman sat bolt upright and rolled out of bed. She looked around and noticed that Glitch had vanished, the blankets where he had slept now cold. The princess didn't have time to go find him though, she was filled with a sense of purpose, and overriding need to draw. She scrambled for her drawing pad and charcoals, quickly flipping to an empty page even as she sat herself down at her desk.

For several minutes, the only sound to be heard echoing in her room was the furious scratching of charcoal on paper. The princess didn't even look up when a quiet knock sounded on her bedroom door. Nor did her intense blue gaze waver when a second, louder one came.

"DG?" a male voice called from the other side of the door, still no answer. "DG, I'm coming in."

Cain pushed the door open hesitantly, not wanting to barge in on his young friend, but was worried enough to enter without invitation. "Princess?" He said, stepping into the room as he noticed her sitting at the desk, bent over a sheet of paper, hands working furiously. Increasingly worried, the Tin Man walked closer, hovering over DG, watching as she worked, her gaze still set unwaveringly on her sketch book, drawing like a woman possessed.

"DG!" Cain finally said loudly, grasping her by the shoulder.

The princess gave a sharp gasp of surprise at his sudden intervention, nearly falling back in her chair, her charcoal dropping from her heavily smudged hands and breaking in two as it hit the floor.

"What?! What is it?" She demanded, looking up and around, squinting at Cain. "Cain, what the heck are you doing here?"

The man shook his head "DG, what are you doing? I've been trying to get you to come round for the past two minutes. Are you alright?"

"What?" the woman asked, looking up at her friend with confused blue eyes. "I didn't even hear you...I was drawing..." She said, looking back around at her desk where her sketch pad still lay.

Cain looked as well, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "What is it?"

They both stared at the drawing for a long minute. There was a beautiful woman, dark curls fell around a soft face, but her eyes did not reflect that same softness. They were determined and dangerously beautiful. Both could tell she was a woman not to be trifled with. She sat regally upon an ornate throne surrounded by pillars, and only half-visible stain glass windows, their images running off the edge of the paper. A long, simple but elegant gown flowed out around her feet, spilling down the stairs of a raised dais.

"Who is she?" Cain asked, voice unexpectedly quiet.

DG was silent for a moment before replying "I have no idea."

XXX

A three more days passed in a blur after that frenzied drawing session that had so disturbed both her and Cain. DG didn't want to worry the Tin Man, and so as nights passed, and the strange, regal woman with the piercing eyes continued to haunt her dreams, she kept the resulting drawings out of sight in a folder in her desk. Not only that, but the woman was soon joined in her dreams by other people, and places too. Three strange men often accompanied the woman, and there were strange cities, foreign places DG had never dreamed of in the past. With every night that passed, more drawings were added to her folders, though she had yet to pick up her courage and tell her friends, afraid of what it all might mean. After all, the last time she had been so obsessed with the characters of her dreams, letting them haunt all her art, hadn't she been transported to a strange to world, and had more near death experiences than most people three times her age? Of course, DG wasn't complaining, after all, so much good had come of her adventures...and yet, the princess could not help but wonder how many more good things the world could have in store for her, when it had already blessed her so much...

"DG! Pay attention!" Tutor said for the third time that afternoon.

The princess snapped to attention, looking up at the large, dark skinned man meekly. "I'm sorry Toto, I just can't seem to concentrate today."

The man rolled his eyes. "It's Tudor, and you'll just have to try harder. You spent so much time in the O.S. that you have a lot of catching up to do with your magic."

"Right, sorry." the princess said with a grimace.

The pair were in a large, mostly empty room, DG perched on a chair in it's center, Tudor pacing restlessly around her, striving vainly to refresh the long absent princess on how to levitate large objects with her powers.

"Now try it again. Clear your mind, let your light flow through you, then reach out and lift the book." He instructed her again.

DG sighed and settled back in the chair, trying to relax. She took a deep breath and reached for her powers. This time she felt the answering warmth of her light, she pulled at it, calling it to do her will.

The princess stretched out a hand, staring intently at the book, her attention wavering briefly when her teacher spoke up again.

"Physical motions aren't necessary."

"Just let me do it!" DG retorted, her hand jerking as she did so, sending the book abruptly flying across the room and smacking into the wall.

Tudor just raised his eyebrows and said "Well, close enough. We'll end it here for today."

DG heaved a sigh of relief. She rose stiffly from the chair and walked across the room to pick up the much abused book. When she stood upright again, she saw a familiar face sitting in a chair by the door.

"Glitch!" DG said with a bright smile, forgetting her earlier frustration as she laid eyes on her friend. She'd hardly had any time to visit the man ever since he'd sneaked out of her room the other night after she'd fallen asleep. With magic lessons, dress fittings, and etiquette training with her mother, she hadn't had time to do more than poke her head in his room before stumbling sleepily off to bed for the night. He'd been sleeping every time, so she assumed he was doing better.

"Hey." He said with a grin, rising from his seat and going to meet her. He was taken a little off guard when she abruptly threw her arms around him and gave him a hug. His arms automatically wrapped around her in turn. "What's up?"

"It just feels like days since I've seen you. Awake anyways. I have been sticking my head in your room at night, but you've been asleep every time." she said as she released him.

"Oh?" He asked in surprise. He hadn't realized that she'd been worried enough about him to be checking in on him. Somehow, it made him feel a little better.

"So, what are you doing here?" DG asked curiously, peering up at him with those glacier blue eyes.

"Hmm? Doing where?"

"Here? With me? Did you need something? Not that I mind your company..." she said, waiting for his answer.

"What was I doing...oh!" Glitch smacked himself in the forehead, making DG wince and worry about how well his head was healing under all the bandages. She didn't have time to ask though, as the man began talking again. "The doctors officially say I'm allowed to be up and around again, so I came to see if you were up for a dance lesson. The party is only ten days away, you know."

DG's eyes widened as she remembered. "Oh, you're right! Well...do I need to change or anything before we start?" She said as she looked around the large, empty room, surprised at just how perfect it really was. "I guess we're in the right room already, anyways."

Glitch grinned down at her excitedly. "Oh no, you're fine as is. And I know, I asked Toto to have his lessons in here today so we could dance afterwards." he said, proud of the forethought he'd put into the afternoon.

DG blinked, and then smiled up at him. She held her arms out at her sides, waiting for him to direct her where to put them. She'd never ballroom danced before, at least not that she remembered.

Glitch smiled in bemusement as he took her hands, placing one on his shoulder, and taking the other in one of his own hands, placing his other lightly on her hip. Normally such contact would have made him nervous, but his normally jumpy mind seemed to settle into an unusual calm as he began to teach the young woman how to dance.

"Now, just follow my lead...1-2-3-4, 1-2..." and off they went, Glitch taking care to move slowly so that the princess could keep up.

DG's eyes were fairly glued to their shoes as they moved hesitantly across the floor. She was frowning intently, both mentally and physically. She felt like such a stumbling fool compared to Glitch. His steps were easy, graceful, as though the moves had been burned into his very soul. It seemed to her, then, that the man danced easier than he walked. She bit back a curse as she stumbled again.

"Take it easy, princess." Ambrose said, tired of sitting back and watching DG's frustration.

DG looked up at him with surprised eyes, immediately noticing the change. Ambrose just smiled slightly down at her and said "I taught you this dance when you were young. Just take a moment and remember." He said simply.

"Hey! I thought we'd agreed that I would do the dancing if you did the brain work?" Glitch said, pushing Ambrose back out of the way. Ambrose let him for the time being, opting to watch from the back seat as his counterpart taught the princess to dance.

DG couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks Ambrose." she said, then, while still slowly moving slightly off time with Glitch, the princess took a moment to think back, letting the light wash over her. Slowly but surely it began to come back to her. Her mother's advisor was right, he _had_ taught her this very dance years and years ago...

Glitch watched in surprise as DG's steps soon caught up with his own, so the old wind bag hadn't been lying, he really had taught his princess this dance. Realizing she was becoming more confident, he picked up the pace until they were flying around the room, the princess getting better with every turn around the room as long dormant memories came to life once more.

She beamed up at him, and his hazel eyes drank her in, her life, her warmth, relishing her cheerful laughter as he spun her out and away from him, their clasped hands like a life line between them, and then tugged her back in close. Mind riding a wave of adrenaline and endorphins as they swept around the room one more time, moving away and then together again, dipping and leaping, laughing and smiling, Glitch wondered if this was what people meant when they talked about the laws of gravity. Ambrose's side of the brain automatically supplied him with the definition; Gravity: The force of attraction between any two objects with mass, the equation FGm1m2/r squared. Translation: the force of gravity is proportional to the product of two masses, and inversely proportional to the square distance between their centers of mass. Glitch couldn't help but think this as he and his partner continually gravitated back towards each other automatically without even having to think about it.

Could something so technical really describe this feeling building in his chest, fluttering in his stomach, the sense of exhilaration he felt every time he pulled the blue eyed woman flush up against him, moving in time with her around the room? Surely there had to be something more to it. Could it be that he...

The pair froze in place, the dance ended, but neither moved to separate from the other. He was so close, DG swore she could hear Glitch's heart pounding in his chest as he gasped for breath, as short of air as she was.

[httpCOLON//img.photobucketDOTcom/albums/v181/Hakari-chan/Tin20Man/DanceDOTjpg

Her face was so close to his, if he were to lean in just a few more inches...

The two leapt apart as if they'd been electrocuted as a scream tore the air, echoing even in their distant part of the castle. Ambrose shoved Glitch to the back of their shared mind, angry at the fool, but too concerned with the source of the scream to bother lecturing him at the moment. That would come later when there were less pressing matters at hand.

"Az." DG breathed, blue eyes wide.

Ambrose didn't bother asking how the younger princess knew it was her sister screaming, he simply grabbed her by the hand, and towed her out the door.

It took DG a moment to gather herself and realize what was going, but when she realized they were running in the general direction of her sisters room, the woman matched Ambrose's pace, her dark hair flying out behind her like a banner, the pounding of their foot steps echoing in her ears.

Ambrose and DG were not the first ones to the eldest princess's quarters, Cain and his son were already there, the elder of the two trying in vain to calm the dark haired woman. Azkedelia's eyes were wide with terror, and she didn't seem to be seeing anything at all, but when Cain stepped aside and DG took her hand, her eyes abruptly focused in on her sister and she spoke in an ominously calm voice:

"_A stirring of ancient powers_

_A war long past returns_

_Long forgotten stories shall be remembered_

_A storm is coming_

_Silver is the key_."

As soon as she had spoken, Azkedelia uttered a little cry and sagged forward in a dead faint.

Everyone in the room exchanged frightened looks, and DG knew the time had come to tell her friends of her dreams.

XXX

Well, I hope you enjoyed this! It's shorter than the last chapter, but hey, at least you got an illustration with it? So no complaining! D Reviews always appreciated, they're fodder for my muse!


	5. Dreams and Prophecies

Chapter 5

Dreams and Prophecies

DG quickly grabbed her sister before she could fall onto the floor, and laid her back gently in the chair she had been sitting in. As the younger princess saw to her elder sister's comfort with anxious, trembling hands, she barely registered the voices echoing behind her. When she finally tuned back in, DG heard her friends talking in lowered voices, their backs to her, wondering what was wrong.

Ambrose was in charge of the body he shared once more, and was talking seriously with Cain as Jeb listened in. "That sounded like a prophecy to me." the queen's advisor said grimly, his arms crossed over his chest, long fingers drumming restlessly on his arm.

"Those still happen?" Jeb asked curiously. All the prophecies he'd ever heard of were from generations ago, never very recent.

"They can happen at any time, son. You think all the ones from the old stories didn't catch people by surprise?" he asked dryly. "I have a feeling they asked the same question. These things never happen when it's convenient for you."

"We have no idea what it means either. But then, you never do until it's already happened." Ambrose said bitterly.

"I think-" DG began hesitantly, caught by surprise when all three sets of eyes snapped immediately to her. They had almost forgotten she was there, she could tell. No matter, they were looking at her expectantly now, she couldn't stay quiet anymore. "I think I might have some idea. It's not much though."

"Princess, at this point, _any_ information would be helpful." Cain said, looking at her with his level blue eyes.

DG nodded and continued. "You remember when you came into my room when I wasn't answering, and I was drawing?" Cain nodded, earning curious looks from the others, but they remained quiet for the moment. "That picture I was drawing, well, I had dreamed about her, so I just had to draw her. I've done more since then..."

Ambrose raised his eyebrows. "Visions?" he asked simply, curious.

The princess hesitated and then nodded. "I think so. Listen, before I came here to the OZ, before I knew I was a princess, I did the same thing. The difference is, the pictures I drew were of this place." She spread her arms out to show what she meant.

"You drew pictures of the palace? Before you remembered it?" Jeb asked, impressed.

DG nodded in agreement. "Not just the palace though, all sorts of things. Road markers, the old road, my mother...everything."

Ambrose's mind was already racing with possibilities. "So you think that these new drawings of yours have something to do with your sister's prophecy?" DG nodded in agreement. "But how?"

"I don't know." DG admitted sadly. "But I get this feeling..." she said quietly, turning to look at her unconscious sister from over her shoulder, her brow furrowed.

XXX

The rest of the day had passed uneventfully, and as the next one dawned, DG was at her desk drawing once more, and she didn't snap out of it until one of the servant girls that looked after her room shook her shoulder, saying something about being late for lessons.

It took the princess a moment, but when she saw how much light was pouring in through her window, she jumped up, horrified. She was late for Tudor's magic lesson! DG jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair as she did so, thrusting her drawings into her folder and stuffed it into the desk in turn. This sudden flurry of movement sent the servant girl reeling. The princess was a whirlwind of activity, dashing about, grabbing clothes, brushing her hair and teeth, seemingly all at the same time. Before she knew it, the strange princess was out the door, and the servant was left standing aghast in the midst of the room, wondering what had just happened.

DG dashed down the hallway, feeling like she was back in high school all over again, running so she wouldn't be tardy to a math class, or something equally horrifying to remember. She barreled full on into Jeb on the way down the stairs, nearly sending them both to their deaths.

"Sorry Jeb!" she called behind her, leaving the man dazed and confused and thoroughly ruffled as she vanished from sight. After a moment though, he smiled and continued on his way, oddly distracted by the delicate scent of perfume she had left in her wake. Had she always smelled so nice? Her wide, surprised eyes came to mind, and made him smile even more, and laugh, heart still pounding in his chest. That was the princess for you. Turning worlds upside down everywhere she went.

XXX

DG arrived in Tudors makeshift classroom quite late and in a state of disarray. The man ignored it though, and continued right on into their lessons as though nothing strange at all had happened.

The lesson was another struggle for the princess, though. Things had seemed so much easier while she was still on the road, fighting to save the world. Raise a hand, open herself to the light, and see what happened. Controlling it, bending it to her will so that the outcome wasn't random, was much harder. She had tried that at first, but instead of levitating the book, she had turned it into a potted plant, making Tudor raise his eyebrows and go on for half an hour about how she had to _concentrate _and make the magic do what _she_ wanted it to, not what _it_ wanted.

She liked him better as a dog.

The highlight of her day was when her lessons were finally over, and she turned to find Glitch sitting there by the door once more.

Glitch's heart leapt when she finally turned and saw him sitting there by the door. It had been such a struggle to sit there and watch her get so frustrated with her lessons, she was trying so hard. Tudor just didn't know how to handle her.

"_She has a lot of potential." _Ambrose mused from his back seat spot in their shared body. _"She just needs to find her own way of doing things."_

"_You're telling me."_ Glitch replied in agreement. He didn't know much about magic, but maybe he could at least cheer his princess up. Unbeknown to Glitch, Ambrose cringed at his other self's use of 'my princess'. He had to find a way to head this off before his dense counterpart caught on.

It warmed Glitch's heart the way DG beamed at him as they both got up and met each other halfway across the room.

"Were you watching?" She asked him.

"Watching what?" Glitch replied, too busy feeling blissful in the rays of her brilliant smile to pay proper attention.

"My lesson." She asked, quirking an eyebrow, and smiling in bemusement.

"Oh...Oh! You were great! Yeah. Great." He was still distracted. Ambrose slapped his forehead mentally. Why was his other half such an _idiot_? 

"That's sweet of you, Glitch, but I was awful. I just can't get my mind around this stuff. It used to be so easy when I was a kid" DG rubbed her temples tiredly, her smile replaced by a frown.

Glitch's attention finally reoriented when the princess's smile vanished like the sun behind the clouds. "You just need a new way of doing things. You've changed a lot since you were a kid, so no doubt your magic has too. You're a beautiful, magical princess! That's every little girl's dream, right? You'll figure it out, I'm sure of it." the man exclaimed, beaming.

DG stared up at him, completely flabbergasted, mouth hanging open and everything, making Glitch's own smile slip. "Um...DG? DG did I say something weird again?"

"A magical princess...I'm...a magical fairy freakin' princess." Glitch was completely at a loss as DG suddenly doubled over laughing. She laughed so hard that tears sprang to her eyes. The man could only wring his hands and wonder if his princess had finally snapped.

DG finally noticed her absent-minded friends distress. He looked so worried, it was sweet really. She gave one more laugh and then jumped up and hugged Glitch tightly to her. "You're the best Glitch. What would I do without you?"

"Well, maybe I could tell you if I knew what I had done in the first place?" was his reply. Even Ambrose didn't know what was going on, so that made him feel better at least. Being wrapped up in DG's arms was the real topper though, and he returned the gesture, smiling into her soft dark hair. "So..what did I do?"

DG pulled away a little, but still kept her arms wrapped firmly around her friend's skinny waist. "You reminded me, thats all. You're right, my magic has changed, I just didn't realize. I kept trying to do things the way I used to, but after I moved to the Other Side, I didn't know I had magic anymore, so I started playing along with the way that I always saw magic done on TV and in books and things."

Glitch still looked puzzled, so DG said "Look." She reached out a hand and the book soared easily off the table and landed neatly in her hand. She looked at a lamp on a side table, and it flared into life. "Easy as pie." she said with a grin. "I just had to do it the way I always imagined it would be done after I lost my memories of real magic. I think the dormant power in me must have changed itself when I used to do that as a child. Thats my theory anyways." DG shrugged and smiled up at Glitch again, the lamp going out and the book returning to its place.

Glitch blinked around at the lamp and the book, and then smiled. "Wow." he thought a moment, and then asked "Whats a TV?"

DG laughed again. Gosh he loved it when she laughed. Especially if it was him that had made her laugh. Her good mood was contagious, and he found himself arm in arm with her, being pulled out the door and down the hall, smiling like the fool he always knew he was. Especially when it came to his princess.

They stepped out into the garden, the sun was warm and bright. It was one of those hazy days that made you want to lay around and do nothing at all. DG led them over to a bench by a trickling fountain and sat down at one end. Glitch made to sit down at the other, but she reached over and pulled him down so that his head was in her lap. His pale skin flushed in surprise as he tried to object.

"Don't. You looked really pale. You should rest, you're still recovering you know." She admonished him, allowing for no argument.

Not that Glitch put up much of one. He smiled up at her, and closed his eyes, a warm, buzzing sensation seemed to echo through him when he was in her presence. It didn't take him long to doze off, and as soon as he did, Ambrose jumped to the forefront, ready to tell Glitch off, to warn the princess to to be so familiar with his other half, that it was giving him ideas...and then he opened his eyes to look at her, and every thought seemed to fly right out of normally coherent mind. DG's eyes were closed when he looked up at her from his place in her lap, her auburn curls surrounded by a halo of light cast by the angle of the double suns. They gave her skin a warm, rosy hue, and Ambrose found himself unable to look anywhere else. She opened her eyes and looked down at him with her deep blue eyes that seemed to shimmer like the surface of the nearby fountain. She was beautiful.

"Hello Ambrose." The princess said quietly as she smiled benignly down at him.

Suddenly, the queen's advisor couldn't remember just what it was he had been about to say to her.

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Yeah, so not much of an update after so long, I know, but at least it's getting the ball rolling again, and hopefully it'll stay rolling this time XD On the plus side, I have my general goal for the story line all written out and what not so I won't forget where I'm going with this fanfic if I happen to be stalled in my updating again. Well, hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, and reviews are very welcome, they help me write!!!


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